chapter thirteen : Quidditch tryouts

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"Hello everyone!" June called from where she was standing on the steps to the dormitory. "I'm Juniper and I'll be the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. Now, I'm going to make this short. Quidditch Tryouts will be this Thursday. Everyone is allowed to tryout for every position — yes Fred, you too," she added, upon seeing her best friend's expression. "I want to give everyone a fair chance of getting on the team. On Sunday, the results will be on the bord." She gestured at the bord in the corner. "Any questions?"

A first-year rose his hand.

"First-years aren't allowed on the team," June added kindly, giving him a small smile.

He lowered his hand again.

When all the questions were answered, June made her way over to Angelina and Alicia.

"That's fair," Alicia said, "you're a good captain June."

Juniper grinned. "I haven't even started yet."

Angelina raised her eyebrow. "Oh Merlin, you're going to be worse than Oliver."

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Juniper was impressed by the amount of people that decided to show up at tryouts.

The black haired stood in the middle of the pitch, waiting for the last people to reach her before staring tryouts. Harry, Fred, George, Angelina, Alicia and Katie stood together next to her.

"I think that's everyone," Angelina said, looking over the heads of the gathering people.

June nodded and turned to look at the crowd.

"Hello everyone," she said loudly, and the crowd stopped chatting. "Thank you all for coming, I appreciate the enthousiasme. We'll start first with the Seeker position. So those of you who are not here for that position, please wait kindly at the sideline until we are finished and ready to go towards the next position. Those who are interested in the Seeker position can mount their broom."

Harry swung his leg over his Firebolt and the others followed pursuit. June noticed that there weren't many people trying out for the Seeker position. There was a seventh year, a third year and of course, Harry.

"I will release the Snitch," June continued, showing them all the golden ball in her hand. "I will count to ten before you can chase after it, okay?"

They nodded.

"We will do this five times. The one who catches the Snitch the most will get the Seeker position."

The seventh year and third year glanced jealousy at the Firebolt. June smiled at this.

"And remember, you're only as good as you are. It doesn't matter which broom you use."

The two of them exchanged a determined glance before nodding.

Juniper let go of the Snitch, counted to ten, and they were off. Twenty minutes later — Harry caught the Snitch every time — they landed back onto the ground.

June scribbled the outcome onto a piece of parchment before dismissing them.

"Okay, everyone who wants to tryout for Chaser, please step forward!" she called towards the crowd who were waiting at the sideline.

The majority of the people came walking towards her. When they stood around her, June started explaining.

"So I'm going to divine you into groups. You'll be passing the Quaffle towards each other and perform some plays, okay?"

It was a chaos. Juniper sighed upon seeing the plays they preformed. Sure there were some promising people between them — Alicia, Angelina and Katie were still the best — but most of them looked as if they had never flown a broom before.

"All right," June said, smiling at them as they all managed to get safely onto the ground. "I'll let you know on Sunday."

They shuffled back to the sideline, some looking happier than others. The next one in line were the Keepers. Much to June's surprise, Ron was with them, too.

"Hi Ron," she greeted the red head. "Didn't know you were going to try out for Keeper."

"Yeah — er — Harry told me I should give it a shot," Ron said, scratching his neck.

"I'm sure you'll do great," June said, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Thank June," he said, visibly relaxing a bit.

Juniper let Alicia, Angelina and Katie each throw a Quaffle towards the Keeper, knowing the three of them had quite a throw. June was pleased to see that Ron had managed to deflect four out of five times, making him score better than everyone else. She scrambled down the outcome, her expression not betraying anything, and dismissed them.

At last, the Beaters came forwards, leaded by Fred and George who seemed very confidently. June didn't blame them — for as far as she knew, they were the best coordinated duo. It was as if they could read each other's mind, which June was sure they could not.

And June was proven right. Fred and George were by far the best duo. They had a perfect timing and were a perfect match — just don't tell them she said that.

It was getting dark by the time June had put the chest with the Quaffle, Bludgers and Snitch back in its place.

"It was a good tryout," Katie said. "We definitely have some talent in Gryffindor."

Juniper nodded, before giving them a grin. "It'll be hard to decide."

Alicia rolled her eyes while Angelina glared at her. Katie just laughed.

"You better put us back on the team, Black," Angelina said.

"I'll guess you'll have to wait and see, Johnson."

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By the time June entered her dorm, she saw that an owl was sitting on her nightstand. She quickly gave him a treat before taking the letter that hung onto its leg.

Dear June,

I'm glad you finally know about the Tournament. It was hard keeping it a secret for you guys, especially since Percy always seems to bring it up.

So you're entering? I must warn you, June, that it'll be extremely dangerous and well, I don't want you to get hurt. However, if you really want to enter, I will not try to stop you and you will have my support all the way. I'll even take the days off to come and watch the tasks.

So Mad-Eye Moody, huh? That's pretty cool. The man is a legend. You're going to learn a lot from him, I'm sure.

Hope to see you soon.

Love,
Charlie

Juniper frowned upon noticing two things. First, he hadn't replied on the fact that Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were coming, and second, he had ended the letter with the word love.

What's that supposed to mean?

The black haired carresed the words with her thumb, retreading the letter in the process. Charlie had a nice handwriting and very pleasant to read.

"Letter from your lover?" Angelina asked, giving her a wink.

"It's from Charlie," Juniper replied, folding the letter and putting it in her nightstand.

"So . . . your lover?"

June gave her a pointed look. "We're just friends."

"Stop pestering her, Angie," Alicia said, falling down onto her bed. "I'm sure that if something happens between them, June will tell us."

"Thanks for the trust, 'Licia."

"Any time."

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Choosing her teammates wasn't that hard of a job. June knew she was going to keep her old mates since they were still the best out of all of them. The only position she had to fill in now, was the Keeper.

Ron had been pretty good, but there was another boy, Cormac McLaggen, a fifth year, who was actually pretty good too.

In the end, she decided to choose Ron. She had the feeling he got along better with the team than Cormac did.

She wrote down her final decision before putting the parchment next to Charlie's letter in her nightstand. She would hang it up first thing on Sunday morning.

"You coming to dinner?" Alicia asked.

"Yeah."

June stood up, took her wand and followed her friends outside. The three of them made their way down to the Great Hall.

"I heard from Fred that Moody put the fourth years under an Imperius Course," Angelina told them.

"He what?" June exclaimed. "I thought that it wasn't allowed to put spells on students?"

Angelina shrugged. "I guess he doesn't care. You saw what he did to Malfoy."

Juniper gritted her teeth. "Don't remind me."

They entered the Great Hall and June's hazel eyes immediately swept from Harry to Draco, checking both boys to see if they were all right. Harry was chatting happely with Hermione and Ron, but Draco seemed a bit off.

Juniper sat down at the Gryffindor table, took a quick out that luckily was still in her robes and took a napkin.

Astronomy Tower after dinner?
— J

She then enchanted the napkin so that it would fly towards him. Draco took it and opened it. His grey eyes swept over the text before looking up at her and nodding slightly.

"So tomorrow's the big day," Fred said, making June turn her head towards him. She frowned.

"What's tomorrow?"

George gave her a pointed look. "The day we get to extend our Beaters positions, duh."

Juniper rolled her eyes. "Maybe, maybe not."

After dinner was finished, June waited for Draco. She leaned against the wall, humming a song Alicia had sung that morning.

"What song is it?" Draco asked, approaching her.

"I don't know," June said, shrugging. "Alicia was singing it and now I can't get it out of my head."

"I've got the same problem," he said, as they started walking towards the Astronomy Tower. "Blaise loves to sing under the shower."

"Blaise Zabini? I didn't know he was your friend."

"He is," Draco said, and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "He and Theodore Nott."

"I'm glad you're having good friends," June said, smiling.

"So I heard you might be entering the Tournament?" Draco asked, once they started to climb the stairs in the Astronomy Tower.

"I'm thinking about it, yes," June said, nodding. "I think it'll be fun."

"Kind of a bummer I'm not old enough," Draco said, as the two of them sat down onto the floor and looked outside.

"I'm happy you're not old enough," June replied. "Charlie tells me it's going to be dangerous."

"As in Charlie Weasley?"

". . . yes."

"So, you and him —?"

"No."

Draco gave her a glance.

"Okay, so maybe I do like him —"

"Really, June? A Weasley?"

Juniper glared at him.

"Er — I mean, wonderful, just wonderful."

"Draco, the Weasleys are great. I get you don't like them because your father don't like them, but he's not here so please, please keep you remarks to yourself, because I, for a fact, like them."

"Sorry."

The two cousins watched the sky and June noticed the dragon constellation. She stood up, took a telescope and adjusted it before looking back at Draco.

"You want to see where you got your name from?"

He scrambled up and looked through it. A smile played on his lips.

"Not to brag or something, but I think the dragon is the coolest constellation of all."

Juniper rolled her eyes. "Well, if we're bragging about our names. My parents called me after a planet."

Draco frowned. "For as far as I know, there is no planet called Juniper."

"But there is a Jupiter," June pointed out. "They just changed it a bit — which I'm glad they did."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine, you win."

"Thank you, my little dragon."

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Juniper woke up very early on Sunday. She had, after all, promised she'd hang the results of the tryouts on the bord. Taking a step back, she observed the results.

GRYFFINDOR QUIDDITCH TEAM
YEAR 1994-1995

Captain: Juniper Black

Seeker:
Harry Potter

Beaters:
Fred Weasley
George Weasley

Chasers:
Angelina Johnson
Alicia Spinnet
Juniper Black

Keeper:
Ronald Weasley

Reserve player:
Katie Bell

"I knew you'd do it," Fred said, yawning as he walked to her.

Juniper raised her eyebrow. "Why'd you wake up so early if you were sure I was going to pick you?"

"Just wanted to know if I could still do it."

June rolled her eyes. "Merlin, you'd think you're already in your late sixties."

Fred grinned.

"But you and George were by far the best so there is no need to worry."

"Thanks for the compliment, June."

"Don't get used to it."

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Published 02.12.2020

I hope you enjoyed it & tell me what you think of it!

Next up: arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang and I'll add some Liam time in it since I miss him.

For those who were interested in the fantasy book I'm writing, I've finished the first chapter and I probably won't publish it until I'm a little further in the story so stay tuned!